Gourmet Baby

Yesterday morning, after attempting to do a bit of gardening with my little companion, I sent the following email to the mycologist to whom I was referred after speaking to Poison Control:

Hello,

These are photos of mushrooms found in my yard in mid-Michigan that were possibly ingested by a 9 month old baby. When I realized she had gotten into them, I scooped all of the mushrooms out of her mouth and attempted unsuccessfully to induce vomiting. Her behavior is currently normal, and she is showing no signs of illness or discomfort, but I just wanted to check. I am not sure if any of the mushrooms were actually swallowed, but she certainly had one in her mouth that was well chewed!
Thank you for your advice.
Sincerely,
Meredith Carson, mother of Lilianna

A quick fifteen minutes later, I got a call back from Poison Control saying that these had been identified as puffballs which are completely non-toxic.  Thank God!  Then the Poison Control operator took down all of my details so that she could enter me into the "Bad Mommy" database.  I was already in there after I called several years ago when Emma, at the age of 2, ate nearly an entire bottle of Tums Antacids when I was in the shower one morning.  I don't know how Sophie made it through early childhood without eating something questionable... actually, she probably just did it without my knowledge.  Go ahead a put another tick mark next to my name for good measure, Poison Control.

I had also sent a copy of this email to my good friend Jenny who works for the State of NC in the Water Quality Division.  She is a clever, often outdoorsy girl, so I thought she too might have some insight on Lili's magic mushrooms.  Not two minutes after I had heard back from the official mycologist, Jenny emailed back with the same ID.  The mushrooms were, indeed, puffballs according to her mushroom source in the DENR office.  Additionally, Jenny informed me that these puffballs are apparently delicious when sauteed in butter.  So our Lil' has made a tremendous culinary discovery in our front yard.  What more could you want out of a Monday morning? 

At the end of the day there were still weeds all over my garden, but all of the children survived without any major traumas.  I call that a pretty successful day.